Watching you
by Obsidian-Blood
Summary: [GaaraxSakura]when Shukaku is returned to Gaara he believes everythin will return to how it was, the fear, the hatred...but what of a pink haired Kunoichi? will up raiting in later chapters...
1. how it was done

**A/N: okay, so I've read sooo many Gaara x Sakura stories so I thought I may as well try out my own, my first fic on this site so tell me what you think so far, hopefully this will be a long one, next chapter will probably be another Gaara-centric one, the one after will be more Sakura**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or these characters; I do however own a very cute Gaara plushie...(huggles). **

It had been a year now since Shukaku had returned to him at the defeat of Akatsuki, and in the end it had been Gaara's decision to become his vassal yet again. He chose this not for the power and fear that the Demon radiated but because of his sense of duty…after suffering the demon for so long and going through such pain he could not bear to see anyone else carry the burden, could not bear to think of another soul twisted by it's inhuman rage. After all he had been able to control it, following his encounter with Naruto and the realisation that he was not truly alone, he had been able to quell the demons rage, been able to channel it, mould it into a force of protection to all those around him and the inhabitants of Suna, his people.

They had even come to trust him, and those that could forget the monster that he once was, learned to admire him, their leader, and their protector, their Kazekage.

And yet it had taken all his courage to allow Shukaku back into his soul, he feared that this time he would truly loose control disregarding all that he had learned and fall back into his old murderous self. His siblings, it would appear, shared these fears as they tried to dissuade him on many occasions, but in truth he really did have no choice in the matter. It was either; reclaim the demon as his tormenter, pass it on to another or set it loose to cause destruction in the world and of those tree options he knew which one he preferred.

And so he had travelled to the remains of the abandoned Akatsuki complex along with his siblings and a select few Jonin from both Suna and the strongly allied village of Konoha, among these Jonin were three that had once set out to save Gaara from Akatsuki when they had removed Shukaku in the first place, Naruto, Kakashi and the pink haired Kunoichi, Sakura. Since the time of his rescue, he had seen her several times as whenever she was sent on a mission to Suna he would be sure to find her standing before the grave of elder- Chiyo, sometimes weeping at her loss, sometimes smiling. Why she smiled he did not know. Perhaps Chiyo had helped her in some way before she had resurrected Gaara, taught her something of importance before she traded her life for his with the forbidden technique.

Although he often saw the Kunoichi there he rarely approached her, instead hiding in the shadows masking his powerful chakra and simply watching. Eventually however, he stopped coming to watch her stand there simply out of curiosity and a mutual respect for the woman she mourned, slowly and without truly realising it he began watching her for a different reason…

As more time passed she appeared less often, and hoping to keep whatever strange feelings that afflicted him in her presence at bay he began avoiding her when possible, after all, he reasoned, he did not need anyone. Further emotions would only act to distract him from his chosen path…solitude was all he had ever known within his heart and he intended to keep it that way, selfish? Perhaps. Juvenile? Quite possibly, but perhaps what it truly was that kept him from her, was fear…fear that he would again be rejected due simply to what he was forced into being upon his birth, fear that no-one could accept the love that such a broken soul had to offer.

Upon their arrival at the complex the accompanying Hokage began preparations for the ceremony that would re-unite Gaara with Shukaku. It was a highly complex ritual and had taken almost 3 days to prepare fully. It was Tsunade who would perform the ritual, as she was one of the few that knew how it was done. Being on an equal par with her Hokage when it came to healing, and Chakra educed strength of course, Sakura assisted her closely keeping a close eye on Gaara throughout the proceedings, much to Gaara's discomfort.

The pain had been immense, that was all he could really remember, a searing white-hot pain that coursed through his entire body sending his nerves into shock causing his limbs to spasm fiercely and a blood-curdling scream to rip from his lips, what followed was complete and utter darkness.

He had woken briefly as he lay on the floor of the complex, pain shooting through his body in the aftermath, his eyes fluttering open for a second to register a flash of bright pink above him and a soft hand caressing his cheek before the darkness returned.

When he awoke for the second time he was surrounded by white, …_'dead?_'… He thought briefly before realising that he was lying upon a soft mattress within his own Hospital.

**A/N: yeah, one big flashback to set the story up for you all, next chapter will be in the Present tense...**

**Any pointers you can offer to improve, any mistakes you see please point them out!**


	2. In Need of Aid

**A/N – Well, Here we are, second chapter! I enjoyed writing this one, hope you approve!**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing!! (cries)**

**'Shukaku'**

_'thought'_

'normal speech'

_flash back_

* * *

Chapter 2 - In Need of Aid

It would seem that the removal of the demon had not only damaged Gaara in the process, it had also hurt Shukaku himself…badly, well that at least is what Gaara reasoned as, since his return, he seemed completely changed. No longer did the Demon crave blood continually, no, that Gaara could have dealt with. Now he seemed…interested… in other things. Continually watching in the shadows of his mind as Gaara went about his daily routines, it was like a running commentary on his life with the damned demon deciding to remark on little things, giving him advice on all aspects of, well, everything. As if Gaara could take the advice of a Demon! Although, he had to admit, sometimes he did get things right…

Over the last year, however, he had gradually come to accept this change, slowly getting used to the strange wit that Shukaku possessed, though it had come as a great shock at first.

_Gaara awoke in the hospital, recognising his surroundings, and immediately tensed,_

'_Shukaku…?' He sensed the other presence within him but it was slightly different than he recalled, the murderous intent had faded, almost as if the years had worn it away until it was a ghost of its former self._

'_**Hey there my little Tanuki, awake at last? It's been a while…what, no welcome home party?Kukuku, I'm disappointed…'**_

_'y…you are talking to me?' What was going on, Gaara was shocked to say the least, the demon had spoken to him directly, all he had ever heard before were faint whispers "kill…killll…yesss…" but there was none of that now, why?_

oOo

Shortly after Gaara's return, while he was still recovering in the Hospital, two separate villages decided that it would be an opportune time for them to attack. Gaara had suspected that something of that nature would occur while he was 'out of action' and had made sure that most of the higher ranking Ninja were in the village at the time, he had not however, anticipated a double threat.

On his sixth day in the hospital Temari had arrived to bring him a further update upon their defensive situation when a loud explosion was heard all throughout Suna, the enemy were closing in having almost made it through the great stone walls surrounding the village by using a host of explosive Jitsu. Suna Ninja were suffering greatly as the numbers of wounded rose and, due to the lack of trained Medic Nin; the wounded were being healed at a painfully slow rate.

Gaara had had enough, within seconds he had escaped from his bed sand teleporting him directly to the gates of his beloved village, what he saw caused him to roar up in anger. Wounded Nin were everywhere, and the few still unharmed were desperately trying to protect the fallen from an onslaught of enemy Ninja who had just managed to push through the last of Suna's defences.

Quite suddenly all movement stopped on the field as hundreds of eyes turned to the Kazekage, waves of murderous intent rolled from his lean figure as he looked upon the enemy, in their gazes he saw pure fear.

Shukaku's powerful Chakra ran through him wild and free, yet Gaara controlled it, moulding it seamlessly with his own to create something tangible in the air around him, a deep red haze enveloping his figure, causing the surrounding Nin to shudder at its force.

Shukaku watched through Gaara's eyes fully aware that he could overwhelm the boy in his angered state yet, strangely, he felt content to watch the scene before him, enjoying the desperate screams of the enemy as they fell before the awesome power that the boy controlled, sand flowing like liquid through the air weaving gracefully around the field.

'Sabaku Kyuu!' Gaara commanded, and the sand quickly complied creating dense coffins around each of the enemy, a couple of the more powerful Nin tried to escape but Gaara merely had to twitch a finger towards them and the sand obeyed gripping them firmer, choking them slowly constricting their blood flow until they lapsed into a deep unconscious state. He knew it would have been simple to kill them, the hundreds of Ninja that dared to even contemplate attacking his village, just one command and they would disappear _'…Sabaku Sousu'_ he had used the command many times before… But no, that was not him, not anymore.

Instead he simply used the sand to move the Ninja to a point far into the desert, if they died it would be by the sun, not his hand. And if they lived…if they lived they would know to never return, for if they did they could be sure that they would never leave again with beating hearts.

'**Well played Kit, I would have liked a bit more action though, shame really…when did you have to go and get morals?'**

_'When I realised there was more to life than death'_

'**Shame really…well, looks like you have some cleaning up to do'**

Gaara sighed inwardly as he looked again upon his fallen comrades, noting the extent of their injuries and the severe lack of aid on the field.

_'What can be done? We are in desperate need of aid, I cannot even contemplate handing out high ranking missions if this is all the medical prowess our village has to offer, I cannot allow any more to die needlessly'_

'**Kukuku…looks like you will be seeing your pink haired friend sooner than you had anticipated…'**

'_I have no idea who you are talking about…'_

'**Baka, I'm in your mind…or did you forget…'**

oOo

'It must be done' he stated plainly to the Elders for what must have been the tenth time, irritation clear in his voice.

'We all agree, we do not want anything of that nature to ever occur again Kazekage-sama, but really! Do you think it wise to bring in someone form another village? How are we to know they can be trusted?' this woman was the most persistent, and so by Gaara's standards, the most annoying. He glanced at her wrinkled face, framed with a few strands of wispy grey hair briefly, a look of distaste clear on his otherwise passive face.

'As I have said already, we need help in this matter. The village in question is our strongest ally and I would, and have, trusted this Ninja with my life twice already, something that I would not do lightly. I assure you.'

The Elder woman glanced around the room desperately seeking for some form of support, but when none of the other elders would quite meet her gaze she slowly turned back to Gaara, his features again passive as always.

'You have put forward a compelling argument Kazekage-sama, I will agree to your decision, however, I want you to keep a close eye on this Ninja, if anything should happen…'

'It would not be your responsibility, am I correct?'

'Hai, Kazekage-sama'

'Then you are all dismissed, I must begin the arrangements'

There was a general murmuring of assent around the room and the elders slowly filed out until Gaara was finally left to his own thoughts on the matter.

It was apparent that the only hope he had of preventing any future medical failures was to call on the Kunoichi widely known one of the top Medic Nin in the field. He knew this as soon as he had seen the injured men and women around him all that time ago, no matter how he tried to deny it.

Sakura's reputation had only grown stronger over the years, a reputation that she most certainly lived up to and perhaps even surpassed. She was easily the only candidate worthy of training Suna's future medics to a standard accepted by Gaara and so he had little choice but to seek the aid of the very person he most wished to avoid…

It had taken a whole year to arrange everything and finally persuade the Elders, he could truly put it off no longer. Slowly Gaara ran a hand through his rust coloured hair and pulled a scroll towards him, taking his ink and brush he began to write the letter that would ask the Hokage of Leaf to send Haruno Sakura to Sand for a very long mission indeed he just hoped it wouldn't be too long.

* * *

**A/N: okay, thanks for reading!**

**I hope to update soon, next chapter will be Sakura's viewpoint on everything so far!**

**If you have any Constructive Criticism on this chapter please feel free, I wish for all the help I can get to improve my writing!**


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